Sh! I'm Listening to Reason
by JamesPotterwasntaseeker
Summary: There's a lot of inner house relationships going on and everyone feels it's time to get Hermione and Draco together. Hermione works for Malfoy Enterprises, and the elder Malfoys agree. Little does everyone know, they're already married.
1. Chapter 1

**Sh! I'm Listening to Reason**

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**Author's Notes:** Thanks to Pagan for looking this over! This was definitely a fun challenge and I hope to do more in the future.

**Fic Word Count/Art Medium:** 3,472  
**Pairing(s):** Draco Malfoy/Hermione Granger, Harry Potter/Luna Lovegood, Ron Weasley/Pansy Parkinson, Blaise Zabini/Ginny Weasley, Theodore Nott/Daphne Greengrass, George & Angelina Weasley, Bill & Fleur Weasley, Percy & Audrey Weasley, Molly & Arthur Weasley, and Lucius & Narcissa Malfoy  
**Rating: **R  
**Warnings (if any):** Implied sex  
**Prompt #/Self-Prompt** #2

**Disclaimer:** "Harry Potter" is the property of J.K. Rowling and Warner Bros. This work of fiction/art was created entirely for fun, not for profit, and no copyright infringement is intended.

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**Malfoy Manor, Sunday, February 8, 2004 6:30 PM**

Lucius and Narcissa were entertaining an unusual group of guests on their usual day for visitors. The group consisted of Harry Potter and his fiancée Luna Lovegood; Ron Weasley and his girlfriend Pansy Parkinson; Blaise Zabini and his fiancée Ginny Weasley; and Theodore Nott and his wife, Daphne Greengrass-Nott. The occupants weren't shocked to receive an owl from the older Malfoys. Everyone in the room had one idea in mind: Getting Draco and Hermione together, finally.

Ever since the two had started working together at Malfoy Enterprises three years ago, their friends and families had had to hear them complain about each other incessantly. Blaise and Theo had teased Draco several times about the fact that he obviously had a crush on his curly-haired colleague. Needless to say, Draco had hexed both of them and had them thrown out of the Manor for saying such a thing. When Luna and Ginny had brought up the same matter for discussion with Hermione, she had been so flustered that she'd turned as red as Ron's ears usually did when he was angry. It was enough to motivate for all parties to come together in this unorthodox meeting to think of a way to get the two most stubborn people in their lives together at last.

"Does anyone have a plan?" Lucius asked as he looked around at each person in the room.

Everyone was quiet for a moment until Ginny spoke up. "Malfoy's not going to burst in here, is he? You know he'd hex every single one of us if he knew what was going on right now."

Narcissa smirked and turned her blue eyes to her husband. At that moment, everyone realized from whom Draco had inherited his patented smirk. "That won't be an issue," she said, sweeping her eyes around the room. "I have taken care of Draco for the night. He will be running errands in France for the next few hours."

A few chuckles were heard around the room at Narcissa's revelation.

"Great, now that's out of the way, what should we do about these two? Frankly, I'm tired of hearing how much they annoy each other. It's nothing but unresolved sexual tension and it's about time they shagged." Pansy huffed in exasperation then glanced at Draco's parents. "Sorry, Lord and Lady Malfoy," she quickly apologized.

Ginny, who was sitting across from Pansy, nodded her head in agreement. She had said the very same thing to Blaise when she'd told him about Hermione's reaction. When he told her about Draco's denial, they both knew that there was more to the story. A good shag would do wonders for both of them and especially for those around them.

Lucius held up a hand to show that Pansy was forgiven.

"What about inviting them to a Weasley dinner?" Luna posed the question. "We'll all be there to stop either one from trying to bolt as soon as they see the other is there. Plus, how many of us have fallen in love with someone at one of these dinners?" Luna looked up at Harry and gave him a smile before looking around the room.

Ginny squeezed Blaise's hand knowing full well that it had happened to them. Pansy smiled at Ron remembering that they too had fallen in love during the several dinners they had attended together. Luna's plan looked like it might actually work.

The room was quiet for several long moments as everyone mulled over the only plan that they had come up with during the hour spent sitting in the drawing room.

"Well, Mum will be pleased to have a bunch of people to cook for, at least," Ron muttered.

* * *

**The Burrow, Ottery St. Catchpole, Saturday, February 14th, 2004, 6:00 PM**

Hermione Apparated to the edge of the wards that surrounded The Burrow. Molly always had a Valentine's dinner every year since the war ended. The parties had unofficially become the place where everyone's love had blossomed. Hermione was always happy to see her friends slowly fall for each other over the course of these dinners, even to the point of taking the plunge, and committing to each other. She also noticed their whispers and stares. She knew that they were wondering if she, too, would be lucky as they were. Hermione always brushed them aside, not really concerned about her love life in the slightest.

Walking into The Burrow, she noticed Molly wasn't in the kitchen as she usually was. Feeling a bit confused, Hermione continued on her way towards the backdoor. Opening the door, she saw that everyone was sitting around several tables arranged under a large pink tent. As she drew nearer, she noticed a few new faces: Angelina Johnson, Theodore Nott and his wife Daphne, and shockingly enough, Draco Malfoy. Angelina was sitting closely to George Weasley, which put a smile on Hermione's face. She had noticed the two of them had been getting closer and closer lately, but it now seemed that the Weasley Valentine's dinner charm had struck again.

As she continued to walk towards the tent, it seemed like the conversation suddenly ceased and they were now all staring at her. Feeling out of sorts, Hermione walked faster, hoping that it was just her arrival and not because she was, once again, without someone.

"Hermione!" A cacophony of voices shouted her name at the same time.

She was taken aback by the greeting. "Hello… everyone."

Molly stood up from her seat and made her way over to her. Molly embraced her as she always did before admonishing her for being too skinny and working too much.

Hermione laughed. "I suppose you'll have to take that up with my boss. Speaking of which, why is _he_ here?"

Molly tried to hide her smile and failed miserably. "Harry thought it was a good idea to invite him since it seemed like Draco would be all alone on a day like today. Isn't that sweet?"

Hermione raised an eyebrow. "I'm not sure that's the word I'm looking for."

"Oh, honestly, Hermione. He isn't that bad, or he doesn't seem that bad since he arrived with Blaise. Give him a chance now that you're both out of a formal setting."

Hermione sighed. "All right, all right. I'll give him a chance. Where am I to sit?"

Molly turned and pointed to the empty seat next to Draco. Hermione rolled her eyes and thought this was some sort of horrible nightmare. Molly gave her a push in the direction of the chair when she saw Hermione wasn't going quickly enough for her.

She stumbled as she put one foot in front of the other, but managed thereafter to walk with further incident until she reached the empty seat. She glared at it as if it were the one to put her in this predicament.

"Granger, the chair might combust into flames if you continue to stare at it like that. We work together five days a week, one little dinner won't hurt. I promise."

Hermione looked up from the chair and into Draco's glacier-grey eyes. She folded her arms over her chest before reluctantly sitting down next to him. "Just because we work together every day doesn't mean I want to be near you outside of work. Why did you accept Harry's invitation anyway?"

Draco smirked and grabbed a glass full of pink liquid. He sniffed it before he deemed it acceptable to drink. He set the glass back down before he answered her question. "It isn't like I had anything better to do. I would be sitting around the Manor whilst my parents do Merlin knows what."

"Or you could have hired a woman of the night and would have been probably be better off."

He snorted next to her. "Do you think I would hire some random tart to distract me from this fake holiday?"

"If the shoe fits," Hermione responded in sing-song voice before she took her glass from the table and took a sip. The drink, once it hit her tongue, went from cold to warm instantly. As it made its way down her throat, it tingled and made her feel relaxed and warm all over. It also instantly made her suspicious, but just as that thought appeared, it disappeared just as quickly.

"Hello Hermione."

She heard Luna's whimsical voice from behind her. She turned and her eyes automatically widened. She shouldn't be surprised by Luna's antics by now, but she was surprised anyway.

"Hello, Luna. What do you have on?"

Luna looked down at her outfit. She was covered in red, white, and pink leaves that were strategically made into a floor-length dress. Hermione had to admit that she was impressed by Luna's fashion choices, but she would never understand the other woman.

"Oh, these? Harry got me flowers today and I thought instead of letting them sit in a vase and die days later, they'd be better worn."

Hermione nodded along. "That's rather creative of you, Luna."

"Harry thought so, too. Are you having a good time?" Luna inquired with a gleam of hope in her blue-grey eyes.

Hermione thought about it for a moment. What were her qualms before this? She couldn't even remember. "I am, actually." She sounded shocked to her own ears.

"Good, good. I should go find Harry, but I'm glad you're enjoying yourself." Luna smiled at Hermione before pulling out something from behind her back and throwing it into the air before leaving.

Hermione watched as a small white bag continued to float higher and higher until it reached the ceiling. It turned itself upside down—the top of the bag now faced the ground—and unfurled. A red substance with the consistency of snow poured out slowly floating down towards Hermione and Draco. She moved her eyes away from the floating bag wondering if anyone else was watching it as well, but she saw that they were all deep in conversation amongst themselves.

She elbowed Draco, none too lightly, and pointed upwards. He followed her finger with his eyes as until he caught sight of the red substance.

"What the bloody hell is that?"

"I don't know. Luna threw it up there. I feel like something odd is happening."

He moved his eyes away from the ceiling and looked at her. "I think you might be right."

Hermione continued to watch the substance as it made its way down towards her. Just when she thought things couldn't get any weirder, she heard Arthur greet Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy. Hermione's attention snapped to them. Red flags were going off in her mind, but for some reason she didn't feel panicked and she also forgot about the falling red substance. _What was happening to her?_

"Why are my parents here?"

"I don't know, but I don't like it."

Lucius and Narcissa made their way around the tables and greeted those that they passed. "Hello, Miss Granger," Lucius greeted her as he took a seat next to his son.

"Hello, Lord Malfoy, Lady Malfoy."

"How many times do we have to tell you, you can call us by our first names," Narcissa admonished.

"You're right… Narcissa." The name didn't feel right coming out of her mouth.

"Thank you. So, are the two of you having a good time?" she asked Draco and Hermione.

"Why does everyone keep asking us that?" Draco questioned.

"It's called making polite conversation, Son," Lucius informed him.

Draco rolled his eyes. "It doesn't feel like it."

A hush fell over the backyard when Molly stood up. "Now that everyone is here, dinner will be served." With a flick of her wand, plates, bowls, silverware, and dishes of food floated its way outside and onto the tables. "Dig in."

For many minutes, all that was heard was silverware scraping against plates. As everyone's stomach started to fill, Hermione noticed Percy, Audrey, George, Angelina, Pansy, and Ron head into the house before coming back out a few minutes later. It shouldn't seem off to her, but she had a niggling feeling in the back of her mind, but she couldn't fully explore why she felt that way for some reason.

Once everyone had finished eating, Molly flicked her wand once again and the dirty dishes raced back into the house to be washed. George stood up and grabbed a crate from under his chair. Hermione knew exactly what that meant; fireworks. It was an annual event that always enchanted its audience.

Everyone stood from their seats and followed George to the little hill not far from the tent. They all crowded around, pushing each other closer together. Hermione kept getting jostled and pushed until she felt herself bump into the person next to her. An apology was on her lips when she noticed who she had bumped into. Draco's grey eyes were staring down at her. They stared at one another for a long second before Pansy bumped into Hermione and Ron bumped into Draco. They looked at one another before turning to the people bumping into them.

"What the hell are you doing, Weasley?" Draco asked with a growl.

"Sorry, just trying to see the show," Ron answered.

"Right, and I'm Voldemort himself," he muttered.

"I'll admit, you aren't easy on the eyes, but a lot better to look at than that no-nosed bastard."

Draco gave him a look as Ron started chuckling at his own joke before turning his eyes back towards the sky.

On the other side of Draco, Hermione wasn't having much luck with Pansy.

"What are you doing, Pansy?" Hermione asked her quietly. Ever since Pansy and Ron had started dating, the two women have become friends.

"Nothing. I couldn't see the show from where I was standing in the back. This is the perfect place to see everything."

"If you were Pinocchio, your nose would be growing right this moment."

"Pino-key-what?"

"Never mind. I know what you're trying to do and it isn't going to work," she told Pansy in a matter-of-fact tone.

"I don't know what you're talking about. Be quiet; the fireworks have started."

Hermione stared up at the sky and watched as hearts and the names of each person present lit up the sky. She had always thought George knew how to put on a good show, but for some reason, this year it felt like it topped every year since they'd started this tradition. She didn't know why she felt that way.

Once the show was over, Percy and Audrey detained Hermione where she stood. She blinked owlishly at them for a moment before Percy spoke.

"Hermione, we need to show you something."

"What is it?"

"That would ruin the surprise!" Audrey told her. She and Percy each took one of Hermione's arms and led her from the hill and towards Arthur's shed where he tinkered around with Muggle inventions.

They pushed Hermione inside, making sure to grab her wand from her pocket at the same time. They shut the doors and locked them before Hermione could turn around and escape. Once the doors were shut in her face, she beat on them with her tiny fists.

"LET ME OUT OF HERE!" she shouted with a snarl.

"I'm sorry, Hermione, we can't do that," she heard Percy tell her.

She sighed and placed her forehead against the wooden door. "This is ridiculous," she muttered.

"Tell me about it. I don't know what they think they are going to achieve," Draco said from behind her.

Hermione whirled around, hand digging in her pocket, feeling for her wand. Coming up empty, Hermione squinted into the darkness. She could just make out his outline.

"Who put you in here against your will?" she asked him.

"Blaise and Ginny."

"Ah," was all she said.

They both lapsed into silence for a moment until Draco broke it.

"You realize they gave us a Calming Draught in our drinks and I'm fairly sure that bag had the same effect. So, what should we do? "

"I suspected that was it. It has definitely worn off now because I don't feel a bloody iota of calm. We could start screaming at each other until they let us out of here?" Hermione suggested half-heartedly.

"You know, Granger, that isn't a bad idea."

Meanwhile, on the other side of the shed's door, a crowd gathered around trying to try to hear what was going on inside. It was quiet for awhile and many faces in the crowd thought that there was a possibility that Hermione and Draco were snogging. Their hopes were soon dashed as they heard voices yelling at each other. The crowd started murmuring, wondering if they should intervene. It wasn't until they heard something crash inside the shed that made Bill finally stepped forward and opened the door.

Hermione and Draco barreled out of the shed and glared at the crowd of people surrounding them. Hermione looked at each one of their faces, Draco doing the same beside her.

"If you ever,_ ever_, try to meddle in my love life again, I will _never_ speak to any of you again. Am I clear?" Hermione asked before marching through the crowd and towards the house.

There were many _yeses_ and nods.

"If we wanted to get together, don't you think we'd be smart enough to do it without your help? That's an insult to Hermione's intelligence as well as my own. I knew there was a reason I didn't like you people," Draco said before he followed Hermione's example and headed towards the house as well.

"Well, that went well," Theodore Nott said once Draco and Hermione were out of earshot.

"Be quiet, Theo. We'll just have to try harder next time," Daphne said with a sigh.

No one called them back; they watched them leave without a word. Unbeknownst to them, Hermione and Draco were close to tears with laughter. They had done it. They had tricked everyone. It was almost too easy.

After they wiped the mirth from their eyes, they clasped hands and walked from The Burrow to the edge of property so that they could Apparate to Hermione's flat. Once their feet were planted firmly on the hardwood floor, Hermione's mouth connected with Draco's. She kissed him hungrily for a moment before they separated for air.

"It's about time I got to properly greet my husband," Hermione said, smiling up at him.

"Sitting through dinner and not being able to touch you drove me mad." To prove his point he raised his hand and placed it on her cheek, his thumb grazing it lightly.

"I'm glad you told me that Harry had invited you days before the party. It gave us just the right amount of time to brew a potion against any kind of trickery they tried to throw at us, except I didn't see the Calming Draught coming. Oh well, it wasn't very strong anyway."

Three days before the party, Draco came to Hermione's flat and had informed her of Harry's invitation. She had laughed. If both of their families hadn't tried to set them up a few times over the years, Draco's invite would have looked highly suspicious. Since they both knew of the grand scheme, Hermione had had the bright idea to brew a potion that they would both drink an hour before the party to protect them from anything the others threw at them.

"I'm glad I married the smartest witch of our generation, or else, who knows what would have happened tonight."

"I do know what _will_ happen tonight…" Hermione gave him a wicked smile before she moved out of his grasp and started unbuttoning her robes, tossing them to the floor before walking towards her bedroom. Draco watched her toss the rest of her clothes to the floor before he charged after her.

He hooked his arms around her hips and picked her up as he continued towards the bed. He deposited her there before he loomed over her. He kissed her sweetly at first before the kiss transformed into something completely different. He bit her plump bottom lip, causing Hermione to moan softly into his mouth. He relinquished her lip in favor of trailing kisses down the column of her neck and down to her collar bones. Hermione let her head fall back to allow Draco better access.

"When should we tell them that we got married?" she asked, panting breathlessly.

Draco stopped his ministrations to look up at her brown, doe-like eyes. "That's what you think of as I try to ravish you, Hermione?"

She smiled and felt a blush stain her cheeks. "No, but I was just curious."

"We'll tell them soon, but as for right now, I want to ravish my wife on Valentine's Day."

And he did just that.

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**AN: **I may do a companion piece to this. Hopefully I'll have new chapters up for a few of my fics. School has been kicking my ass. Reviews would be lovely. - Devan


	2. The Aftermath

**The Aftermath**

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**The Burrow, Ottery St. Catchpole, Sunday, February 15th, 2004, 3:00 PM**

The tents were still up from the night before, as were some of the decoration. Molly had outdone herself the night before cooking for all of her guests, but today she was back at it. It seemed that the usual Sunday dinner would include a bit of news. No one knew what the news pertained, but Hermione had made it quite clear that she wanted everyone that attended the party the night before to be there to hear it.

Molly had her theories on why the young woman wanted everyone to hear the news she intended to tell them, but she kept them to herself. Whenever she would bring it up to Arthur, he would peer at her over the paper and shake his head minutely. He knew how carried away her theories could be when it came to speculating what her family wanted to share and most of it was farfetched. So, Molly kept the theory that Hermione had been so besotted with Draco last night that they eloped. A middle-aged woman could dream. She had done the very same thing with Arthur all those years ago.

She turned to the man she was now thinking of and smiled fondly. They had been young, younger then Hermione and Draco were, when they married. It saddened her a bit that Hermione would never be officially apart of her family like she hoped and prayed if her theory was correct, but she was fine with it as long as Hermione was happy with her choice. Molly sighed wistfully as she continued to whip the mashed potatoes. She would have to wait three more hours to see if her theory was correct or not.

* * *

**Malfoy Manor, Whiltshire, the same day, 3:30 PM**

Narcissa Malfoy was usually a patient woman, but not today. She continued to tap her dainty foot over and over again as she sipped her tea. She kept turning over the questions in her head about what Draco needed to tell her and Lucius and why they needed to be at the Weasleys' home in a few hours.

It was true that the Malfoys and the Weasleys never got along over the years, but last night they had put their differences aside to work together to get Draco and Hermione together. Narcissa's crystal blue eyes lit up. Maybe that was what her only son was going to tell them; he and Miss Granger had finally stopped pussyfooting around and confessed their mutual attractions. Narcissa set her tea cup down hurriedly as she practically dashed out of room to find her husband.

She found him sitting at his desk looking over documents. She cleared her throat and waited for the man to look up at her. He set his quill down and looked up at his wife's excited face. "Yes, Cissa?"

"Lucius, I think I know what news Draco wants to share!"

Lucius sighed and held out a hand to show that his should indulge him with her theory.

"I believe he and Miss Granger have finally taken our advice and have confessed their feelings for each other. Why else would they want us to go back to The Burrow and listen to their news?"

Lucius thought about. He was shocked that Draco had owled them that morning asking for them to meet him at the Weasleys' home. Unlike his wife, Lucius wasn't a very patient man. He had decided to busy himself with paperwork so that he wouldn't have to think about this impending news from his son, but of course his wife had other plans. She was always speculating about what anyone had to tell her, so he didn't know why this should be any different. He was surprised that she had waited this long to come up with anything though.

Lucius tilted his head to the side. "It's a very plausible theory, dear, but we won't know for sure until we go there for dinner." Lucius knew that his answer wasn't going to appease his wife, but he didn't want to get caught up in the hoopla.

"Spoilt sport," she said good naturedly.

"I'll leave the guessing games up to you, Cissa."

"And I was hoping to make a bet."

* * *

**12 Grimmauld Place, Islington, the same day, 4:00 PM**

Three couples sat in the living room of 12 Grimmauld Place puzzling over the owl they each received from their respective friend. They wanted to share news with everyone from the party, together. All the girls in the room―mostly Pansy and Ginny―squealed. Luna had a serene smile on her face as if she knew something that the others have finally cottoned on to recently. Harry, Ron, and Blaise shook their heads at their other halves. They had been talking non-stop about what Hermione and Draco were going to share with the lot of them, while the boys talked about other more important things, such as Quidditch.

"Do you think they went back to Hermione's and consummated their new relationship?" Pansy asked bluntly.

Ginny threw a throw pillow at the raven haired girl's head. Pansy ducked just in time so the pillow sailed over her head and on the floor behind her. "What?! I was just wondering. This has been in the making for so long that I could have cut their sexual tension with a bloody knife."

Ginny laughed behind her hand. "You could say that again."

"Honestly, hasn't it been like that for all of us though? Whenever we all try to concoct a plan to get two people together we always say that tension was thick enough to cut with a knife. What if we didn't do anything to help? It was inevitable for them to get together, I think."

Everyone in the room had to agree that it was true that every time they all sat down and planned to get people together, they always said the same thing. This time was different though. They had never had so many people in on the plan, especially the Malfoys.

"I think it was inevitable for those two to get together, but they needed a bit of guidance from us or they would have been dancing around each other for who knows how long," Pansy added as she fussed over her nails.

"Maybe not. I have a feeling they beat us to the punch and are finally letting us in on the joke," Luna said in a matter of fact manner.

"Well, we have an hour until dinner and for those two to either thank us or tell us how late we were on the uptake."

"Good, I'm starved," Ron muttered from his spot next to Harry.

"Is that all you care about, Ronald? One of your best friends could have life-changing news and all you can think about is your grumbling stomach."

"How could I appreciate my best mate's news if I'm on my death bed because I'm half starved?"

Everyone in the room was quiet. It was almost a valid point, but they all knew that Ron had eaten not even an hour beforehand.

"Oh, Ron," Luna said shaking her head.

"What? It's a perfectly valid question."

"Yes, but not coming from you," Ginny told him.

Ron crossed his arms with a huff.

Pansy shook her head at her boyfriend. Some days she just didn't understand his logic. She quickly roused Ginny and Luna with a change of topic until it was time to go to the Burrow.

* * *

**The Burrow, Ottery St. Catchpole, 6:00 PM**

Everyone was arriving just as the clock chimed. Molly had been practically doing a jig as the clock drew closer to dinner time. Arthur had to remind her every few minutes to stop tapping her feet or her nails. Arthur was more than happy when people started to arrive so he could have someone else distract Molly for a bit until Hermione and Draco arrived.

The table was being set by Angelina and Audrey, while their other halves relieved their father of his duty. Fleur and Bill were bringing the food outside as the rest arrived. Narcissa and Lucius arrived via Floo looking just as out of place as they did the night before. Molly quickly greeted them before she grabbed Narcissa by the hand and drug her to one of the tables so they could talk about what would be revealed soon enough. Arthur clapped Lucius on the back and started talking about how Molly was practically jack hammering out of her seat all day while Lucius told Arthur how Narcissa wouldn't stop nagging him about what he thought about this news. They discovered they had more in common than previously thought.

Hermione pulled up in front of the Burrow. It hadn't been easy getting her parents to agree to get in the car and come to a brunch with the Weasley clan and the Malfoys, but after explaining that she had life-changing news to tell them, they agreed to come. The three Grangers got out of the car and started walking toward the house that Hermione had spent majority of her summers after the age of 12. Hermione quickly explained how the structure of the house stayed the way it was and reassured her parents that it was safe.

As she continued to explain things to them, she hoped that Draco had already arrived or was about to arrive. She didn't want everyone staring her down while she waited for him to get there. She was already afraid to hear her family's reaction, but she would stand by what they did. She was glad she married Draco, even if it wasn't planned.

Hermione opened the door and ushered her parents inside before following them in. No one was in the kitchen, so they proceeded to the backyard where everyone seemed to be sitting close together. Molly looked up and spotted Hermione and her parents. She felt a surge of déjà vu, but she tamped it down. This time it would be worse than the night before. Before she could sit down, everyone looked behind her. She turned to see her _husband_ walking towards everyone.

Hermione gulped. The time had arrived.

Draco greeted those he passed before he got to Hermione. He gave her a tin smile before taking a seat by his parents. Hermione sat down next to him, her parents sitting on her left side. Everyone was quiet, waiting.

"Should we eat first before we, uh, tell you what's going on?" Hermione asked everyone.

Her question seemed to animate everyone into action. They began conversation amongst everyone and started piling their plates with food. Hermione felt relief in that moment. She could delay the inevitable for a few more minutes. She started when she felt a hand grab her hand and give it a squeeze. She looked over at Draco, but he was too busy speaking to his parents, but he was holding her hand. She felt rather grateful for him in that moment.

After everyone got their fill of Molly's delicious food, Hermione and Draco looked at each other before they decided it was that time. They both stood up at the same time and faced their friends and family. Draco cleared his throat to speak.

"Thank you all for coming…again. I know we asked you all here on short notice and I'm glad that you all could make it. Also, thanks again to Mrs. Weasley for cooking an excellent meal." The Weasley matriarch blushed and brushed off his comment. "I know that you all have been wondering what we have asked you here for and I want you all to know that Hermione and I are married. We have been for a month now."

It was as if the sound had been sucked out like a vacuum, but soon it returned in full force. A cacophony of voices all yelling variance of shock and anger. Hermione had prepared herself for this moment, but she knew then that she hadn't been fully prepared at all.

"How the hell―"

"When the hell―"

"You have to fucking kidding―"

"I fucking knew it!"

"I'm going to murder both―"

"I told you all."

Hermione took a deep breath before she yelled at the top of her lungs. "SHUT UP!"

Everyone stopped talking abruptly. She smiled to herself. "Now, one question at a time. I can't take all of your chatter at once."

Narcissa was the first to raise her hand. It took everything in Hermione not to laugh. She now knew what she looked like all those years ago in class when she knew the answer or had a question and was the only one brave enough to raise their hand.

"Yes, Mother?"

"I'm going to murder both of you. I've been waiting over twenty years for this moment to happen and you take it away from me?" Tears started gathering in her eyes. "I raised you to be a better person than this, Draco Lucius Malfoy. I am ashamed."

Hermione heard Draco sigh. The guilt rankled at her. She knew the day they decided to go for it that they would disappointing someone and the look on Narcissa Malfoy's face made Hermione almost regret their decision.

"Mother, listen to me. All of you listen to me. Hermione and I decided to elope before we didn't want a huge production and you all know it would have been." He stared at his mother for a moment before his eyes moved around the crowd again. "I know I've hurt you Mother, but I promise Hermione and I will have a real wedding for you all. We wanted to do something just the two of us. We wanted a day that was special where we didn't have to appease anyone else but ourselves and it was the best day of my life." He looked over at Hermione and took her hand in his and gave it another squeeze.

Hermione couldn't have agreed more. The day was about them and she was truly sorry that she had upset anyone, but she would have done it again and again and again because she loved Draco and that day proved it.

"Can someone answer something for me, how long have the two of you been dating before you got married?" Pansy butted in.

"About a year and a half," Hermione and Draco both answered.

"Blimey and we had no clue."

"I knew," Luna said nonchalantly.

"How?" Ginny asked her.

"I saw the two of them meeting up a few times over the last few months. I thought it was just for business, but they both seemed a bit too happy to just be meeting for business reasons and then I saw them kiss and I knew. It's quite sweet, isn't it?" She asked looking around at the stunned faces.

"We're a bit hurt you kept this from us, Hermione, but we're glad that you're happy," Jean Granger told her daughter.

Everyone nodded their agreement after her pronouncement.

"Thank you," Hermione said quietly. In for a penny, in for a pound. "I have something else to tell you all while we're all gathered here."

Draco looked at her confused. She squeezed their still clasped hands.

"I'm pregnant."

The noise felt like it was vacuumed out once again before everyone started talking at once again. As everyone voiced their pleasure and congratulations, Draco wrapped his arms around her waist and whispered in her ears.

"I'm going to be a father?"

Hermione nodded. She didn't trust herself to speak at the moment, trying to hold the tears at bay.

"You always manage to surprise and amaze me, Granger," he said, a smile in his voice. He kissed her on the cheek.

Hermione smiled at him. They had managed to keep one of the biggest secrets of their lives from the most important people in their lives and she had even managed to pull the wool over her own husband's eyes. Maybe Draco was right in thinking she wasn't as Gryffindor as he always taunted her about all those years ago.

* * *

**Author's note: **And there you have it! I had fun writing this and I hope you had fun reading it. Now I am off to focus on my other stories. Until next time. - Devan


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